TRENTON — A recent ruling by President Obama could help bring a lot of families back together.

For years, family members of American citizens who were eligible to apply for U.S. residency had to go back to their native country and wait for a waiver to be approved.

The wait time could extend up to 10 years, but on Wednesday, Obama’s administration ruled that thousands of foreign spouses and children can stay with their U.S. citizen relatives while they apply for green cards.

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The new policy “reduces long periods of separation between U.S. citizens and their immediate relatives,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in a conference call Wednesday.

Until now, thousands of illegal immigrant spouses, parents and children of U.S. citizens would leave their families and return to their native countries in hopes of applying for permanent U.S. residency, but they risked months or years of separation.

The new rule allows them to apply for a waiver in the United States instead of in their home countries. More than 20,000 apply annually for the family waiver, which requires U.S. citizens to show they will suffer “extreme hardship” if their immigrant relative is barred from returning.

The numbers seeking such relief are expected to rise now that families no longer have to risk a long separation.

“This is very good news, there are many families who do not apply to legalize their status for fear of having to be away from their families for years at a tune,” said Mercer County attorney Ryan Stark Lilienthal.

“With this new directive, applications will be approved quicker and will alleviate any emotional and economic hardships,” Lilienthal said.

While it is difficult to calculate how many families this will affect, the new policy will relieve many Greater Trenton Area families. “While not every undocumented immigrant will qualify for this program, and not every case will be approved, many will benefit from the program,” Lilienthal predicted.

The Obama administration announced the proposed change early last year, but sought months of public comments before making it final in a rule to be published Thursday in the Federal Register. The policy will take effect on March 4.

This new directive could help people like Anilda Ariola, a U.S. Citizen who is married to Alfredo, an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador. They have a son who was born in Trenton.

“My husband had to leave the country to comply with the law to adjust his status, I thought it would take only a few months but it has already been a year and a half and he has not been able to return,” said Ariola.

The separation from her husband has taken a toll on her and their 1-year-old son.

“This has affected us psychologically and financially, many think that my son does not realize what is going on, but when his father left my child spent many nights crying, we are suffering terribly.”

Alfredo was the main bread winner in his home but now Anilda has had to rely on public assistance and a part time job to support herself and her son.

“The law that requires undocumented spouses married to US citizens to leave the country in order to adjust their status has been counterproductive for decades. Undocumented immigrants work hard and pay their way through and through,” said Juan Carlos Avila Jr., an immigrant rights activist. “Expelling them from the country has had a strain on social services instead of alleviating them”, he said.

This is Obama’s second significant move to provide relief for immigrant families. Before the presidential election, President Obama signed an executive order protecting all eligible undocumented immigrant children from being deported and granting them a working permit.

“This new directive however is not an executive order or a bill passed into law but rather a fully processed administrative regulation,” said Lilienthal.

Ryan Lilienthal has been an immigration attorney and advocate for decades and for more information about this new directive, he can be reached at rsl@princetonimmigration.com.